precarious

• adj. 危險的；不確定的

來自拉丁語precarius,乞求，懇求，乞憐而得，來自拉丁語precari,乞求，要求，懇求，來自PIE*prek,要求，懇求，詞源同deprecate,pray.引申詞義寄人籬下的，依附于人的，不穩(wěn)的，危險的等。

precarious

precarious: [17] Precarious comes from Latin precārius (source also of English prayer), which meant ‘obtained by asking or praying’. It was originally used in English as a legal term, in which ‘obtained by asking’ had undergone a slight change in focus to ‘held through the favour of another’. This introduced the notion that the favour might be withdrawn, and that the possession was therefore uncertain, and so the adjective soon came to be used for ‘depending on chance or caprice’ and, in the 18th century, ‘risky’.

Latin precārius was derived from prex ‘prayer’, a close relative of precārī ‘a(chǎn)sk, entreat, pray’, from which English gets pray.
=> pray

precarious (adj.)

1640s, a legal word, "held through the favor of another," from Latin precarius "obtained by asking or praying," from prex (genitive precis) "entreaty, prayer" (see pray). Notion of "dependent on the will of another" led to extended sense "risky, dangerous, uncertain" (1680s). "No word is more unskillfully used than this with its derivatives. It is used for uncertain in all its senses; but it only means uncertain, as dependent on others ..." [Johnson]. Related: Precariously; precariousness.

1. They looked rather comical as they crawled up precarious ladders.

他們順著搖搖晃晃的梯子往上爬，看起來非?；?。

來自柯林斯例句

2. He earned a precarious living as an artist.

作為一個藝術(shù)家，他過的是朝不保夕的生活。

來自《權(quán)威詞典》

3. They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps.

他們靠在垃圾場撿垃圾維持著朝不保夕的生活.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

4. A soldier leads a very precarious life.

軍人過著非常危險的生活.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

5. Washington struck me as a precarious place from which to publish such a cerebral newspaper.

我的感覺是，在華盛頓出版這樣一份理性的報紙不是太靠譜。

來自柯林斯例句